Barred N Over 28? Is This A British Postmark On A Victoria Stamp?

Definitely not a London cancel. There's only one N28 cancel for the London northern district.



There's an excellent thread on the downunder board on Indian numeral cancellations but I'm going to withdraw my earlier guess.

I think it might be a New Zealand cancel. A lot of them have that "cut in" look to give the impression of a diamond shape in the centre. The N would be for the Nelson postal district.

The SG number of the stamp will help.

The Australian colonies reduced the letter rate to New Zealand from 6d to 2d in early 1874.

Nelson, New Zealand
Best I can find…

http://www.andrewsnzstamps.com/chal...stal-history

An 1873 cover from Nelson.

Prestige Auction 165 lot 55.

Other possibilities with a N could be

Napier 1858
Naseby
Naumai 1904
Nelson 1855
New Plymouth 1855
Newman
Newton
Ngaruawahia
Normanby

Just some ideas to work with, maybe

New Zealand is starting to look like the favourite, thanks Bobby De La Rue -yet still it eludes positive identification.

Regarding the SG number, the watermark is a little obscured by a small thin but I believe it is wmk 19 (1st V over crown), perf 12.5, so probably SG 151a with an outside chance that it is SG 214b.

Just_Fella, thanks for that site - a great reference tool for NZ postmarks on chalons.

Here are a couple of other interesting resources (but no N/28 unfortunately):
http://www.stampsale.com/Chalon%20H...%20Sales.pdf
https://f660b8feb5396b87e648727b5bf...wZealand.pdf

More to look for. More to come?

I think so, whilst the NZ barred N is a brilliant find,
I think it a stretch to allocate a 28 to the Nelson Post Office.
All I can see is the N 1 hammer impressions.

It is nice to see it (N1) confirmed as a duplex.

Found this, which kinda destroys my presumption above.
O = Otago 140 = TAPANUI
ID Author "DK" internet
"O over any number indicates Otago Postal District"

Well done "Just Fella" for finding the negative square inside the bars

We are closing in, just need to find what catalogue addresses these.

An example of the London cancel (diagram shown by Bobby De La Rue earlier):
https://www.philamercury.com/covers.php?id=27053

UK cancels are generally well documented, so I think it should be easy-ish to find a strike that matches, if we're on the right track here. Serifs, lines, etc.

Once again, I'm not feeling it...and yet I can't offer anything better.

More to come?

Possibly... I offer this "THE PORT" New Zealand

The KIWI Bulletin
March 1982
Whole #172
Page 32

N over 28 Obliterator, and where to find it illustrated

Rod is correct. The 28 won't be Nelson PO, but a post office in the Nelson district.

This information must be somewhere. An old book on New Zealand postal history/cancellations perhaps?

Bobby, it is in the Catalogue of the image I posted, on page 62 (apparently) too pricey for me.

The catalogues come in a set of 10 volumes, around $1,000

Here is an entry for New Zealand cancels in Robson Lowe's Encyclopedia of British Empire Postage Stamps, The Empire in Australasia:




Sorry that they're photos and not scans, but I didn't want to risk breaking the binding.

This is enough to confirm for me that everyone is in the right area, and now it's just a matter of finding the list of Nelson post offices.

More to come.

Thanks Rod, my bad

It makes sense that the cover would've been cancelled at the Port.

I have a New South Wales stamp cancelled at the Naples Port that I will scan later.

Maybe what we're looking for is an envelope posted from Nelson Port to most likely a UK address. There wasn't one in the Len Jury auction.

The Napoli Porto postmark.